Marketing one to one is a marketing strategy that must go in line with the business strategy of the company. But the implementation process is complex. One thing is to train the sales team on how to be nicer and friendly and a different thing is to identify, track and interact with a specific customer and then customise the product or service in order to satisfy the customer’s needs.

The benefits of this marketing strategy can be:

• More up-selling and cross-selling
• Customer loyalty
• Higher levels of customer satisfaction
• Lower transaction costs

Why do you need to implement marketing one to one?

Before implementing a new marketing strategy, you must answer why you need to implement this initiative and what are the basic tactics / components of the same.

Phase 1: Internal analysis

1. Identify your customers: Your company must be able to identify a group of the most profitable / valuable customers (final user or distributor) and know a good deal of information about the same (e.g. contact info, order history, preferences, requirements, etc.). This information must be available in every single contact point (e.g. sales, customer service, finance, logistics, etc.).

2. Differentiate your customers: Basically you can segment your customers based on customer value or customer needs. This will help you to: focus on the most valuable customers, interact in the most cost-effective way and decide the best negotiation strategy.

Phase 2: External action (this phase is visible for your customers)

1. Interact with your customers: A cost-effective and efficient customer interaction is one of the most critical components in a marketing one to one programme. If the customer interaction is efficient you will have better and relevant information about each client and the result is better understanding of the customers needs and its value for the company.

2. Change and adaptation: The interaction will allow you to adapt or customise your product, service and/or the relationship to the specific needs of a specific customer. When the customer contacts the company (e.g. sales, customer service, logistics), every single department should be able to interact and service that customer based on what the company as a whole knows about that customer.

Remember, if you are not able to identify your customers individually, it will be impossible to differentiate them and then adapt how you interact and solve their problems at a profit.